


'Cause the Only Hell I Know is Without You

by ADayDreamingDream (orphan_account), StarsAlignedinMisery (orphan_account)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alpha Allison Hargreeves, Alpha Dave - Freeform, Alpha Luther Hargreeves, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated birth, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Klaus Hargreeves, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ADayDreamingDream, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/StarsAlignedinMisery
Summary: Klaus appears on the bus with Dave beside him. He lets out a shaky breath and feels Dave’s grip on his hand tighten. The driver doesn’t seem to notice his new passengers, something Klaus is grateful for. He wasn’t sure how to explain how they got there anyways.“Where are we?” Dave asked and Klaus gave out a shaky little breath, rubbing the large bump that made up his midsection. The baby was doing summersaults in his womb which made him relieved that the baby was seemingly okay and wishing the little guy would settle down so he didn’t feel like he needed to pee“I think you should be asking when, not where.”
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 25
Kudos: 256





	1. I will be your sword & shield, your camouflage

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my dearest readers. This story might seem familiar, I started to rewrite it in a bunny farm escapee but then things happened and I got sucked into the Good Omens fandom, fell out of that one and got sucked into the Witcher fandom, fled that fandom with tears in my eyes and a bad taste on my mouth and for the past three months have slowly worked my way through 60+ books and started a new Original story. And I'm rambling. Sorry. The point of this monologue is this, I woke up this morning to a new comment on a story I didn't remember writing. Opened it and it said this 
> 
> _"So this got abandoned? Damn, that sucks :/_
> 
> _I loved the original one and I was sad when you deleted it"_
> 
> WELL FOLKS. I had no idea what this lovely person (by the username Nacty) was talking about. It had been so long that I had forgotten all about this "original one". As you might not know, I took that lack of memory on my part as a challenge to scour my files looking for this story that was so loved and guess what. I found it. So here it is and I will try to continue it when I need a break from my original work (so updates will be slow). Moral of the story is: if you comment about a fic that you loved but I deleted chances are I'll go looking for said story and might start writing it again.

Klaus appears on the bus with Dave beside him. He lets out a shaky breath and feels Dave’s grip on his hand tighten. The driver doesn’t seem to notice his new passengers, something Klaus is grateful for. He wasn’t sure how to explain how they got there anyways.  
“Where are we?” Dave asked and Klaus gave out a shaky little breath, rubbing the large bump that made up his midsection. The baby was doing summersaults in his womb which made him relieved that the baby was seemingly okay and wishing the little guy would settle down so he didn’t feel like he needed to pee  
“I think you should be asking when, not where.” He murmured. Dave let out a laugh  
“You weren’t kidding about being different, were you Stitch?” Dave asked. The bus pulled to a stop and Klaus pulled Dave up with him. His legs were shaking as they got off the bus. They weren’t too far from the Academy but Klaus felt like it was across a Vietnam battlefield. Dave helped him sit on a bench as he struggled to breathe.  
“Shh, it’s okay Baby. We’re safe. You got us out of there.” Dave comforted, rubbing up and down Klaus’ arms. Klaus leaned into the touch.  
“We need to get to my home. Five should know something about whether or not time travel would hurt the baby.” Klaus said. Dave helped him to his feet and grabbed the suitcase. Klaus wanted to destroy it, to get rid of the awful thing but he didn’t have the energy. He gave Dave directions at each intersection they came to until they finally made it to the overbearing front doors of the Academy. Dave whistled at the sight but Klaus just pushed the gate open and slowly climbed the stairs to the front door  
“Wow, you weren’t kidding about your dad having money.” Dave commented as they entered. Klaus shrugged, too tired to really care.   
“Come on, my room’s upstairs.” Klaus murmured reaching back and rubbing his aching shoulders.   
“Feeling itchy?” Dave asked and Klaus let out a soft hum  
“Yeah, me too. Probably something to do with all this filth on us. Let’s go get cleaned up before bed.” Dave said lightly. Klaus let him poke around as they made their way to the bathroom, happy to just be home with his mate.   
“Doesn’t seem to be anyone else here. Do you think they’re out looking for you?” Dave asked as he settled Klaus onto the toilet and started running water for their bath. Klaus snorted  
“Probably too busy trying to save the world.” He said and Dave frowned  
“What do you mean?” He asked and Klaus sighed, rubbing his belly as the baby inside started to kick and move again  
“Supposedly the world ends in a couple of days but I honestly think we’ve changed that.” Klaus said and Dave gave him he arched eyebrow that said for him to explain  
“Five never mentioned my dead body being six and a half months pregnant. I think a detail like that would have been something he said when he showed up since, you know, I wasn’t six and a half months pregnant a few days ago. For them I mean. Five would have been the type to question it in front of the others.” Klaus said. Dave snorted  
“You’re pretty smart for a crack addict.” He said as he helped Klaus stand. Klaus let Dave strip him of his clothes and help him into the tub.   
“Feels so good to have an actual bath with clean warm water. Wanna join me?” Klaus asked. Dave kissed him and stripped before sliding in behind Klaus. Klaus leaned back and relaxed, letting his mate wash the mixture of blood, grime, and mud off him. Once they were clean, Dave wrapped his arms around Klaus and they soaked up the warm water.   
“We should head for my bed. Much more comfortable.” Klaus murmured sleepily. He felt more than heard Dave’s rumbling chuckle  
“Real mattress and everything?” Dave teased, poking fun of Klaus’ most frequent complaint about being pregnant in a field hospital on the battlefront of Vietnam.   
“Damn right soldier.” Klaus said with a lopsided grin. Dave helped him out of the bath and gently patted him dry before they slid down the hall naked and collapsed into Klaus’ bed. Dave wrapped the blankets around their waists in case someone came in but Klaus barely registered the movement, falling asleep tucked nicely into his mate’s chest.

Five was not expecting to find Klaus with someone in his room, much less his bed. Judging on the clothes in the bathroom and the tattoos that adorned the man’s back Five suspected that this man wasn’t a local.  
“Klaus. What did you do?” Five asked in a dark voice. Klaus shot up, one arm wrapping around his swollen midsection. The man beside him stirred but Five watched in amusement as Klaus coaxed him into a deeper sleep  
“What do you want Five?” Klaus asked warily. Five looked at his omega brother, he was most definitely pregnant, his belly swollen as if he was deep into the pregnancy. His eyes looked older too, like he’d seen war and death.   
“When did you end up?” Five asked and Klaus scrubbed at his eyes  
“Vietnam War. Me and Dave served together.” Klaus said softly. Five let out a noise  
“Seemed like you did more than just serve together. I didn’t think they let Omegas in the army back then.” Five said and Klaus hissed  
“I worked as a medic. Dave signed on as my mate which allowed him to be stationed at the hospital instead of the front lines.” Klaus said. Five nodded, this was an interesting change in the timeline  
“Where’s the case?” He asked, a plan forming in his head.   
“I think Dave left it in the bathroom. Why?” Klaus asked. The other man was starting to stir again, probably waking due to their voices being so close.  
“I’m going to use it as a trap for the two assassins. That’s all.” Five said. Klaus snorted  
“Yeah? Have fun you little maniac.” He said sliding so that his feet were on the ground. He paused before removing the blanket from around his lower regions  
“Mind passing me a pair of boxers?” Klaus asked and Five snorted  
“You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” Five said and Klaus laughed  
“You do realize that I have a pussy too now? I’m an Omega and since everyone died before you were able to present, I doubt you have ever seen an omega’s genitals. Now, pass me a pair of boxers.” Klaus said and Five felt his face heat up. He had read about how when a man presents as an omega, their perineum grew thinner until it was able to part like the lips of a female’s genitals and reveal the secondary sex organs that developed beforehand. Five turned and dug through Klaus’ drawers until he pulled out a pair of black boxers and passed it over. Klaus slid them on under the blankets, something he seemed to have experience at doing and that was something Five didn’t want to think about. Once the boxers were on Klaus stands and tucks the blankets around his mate who was still sleeping by some grace of God.  
“Come on, let’s get you your stupid time traveling case and I’m going to go make myself some cookie dough.” Klaus said grabbing a pair of stretchy pants, pulling them on and then heading for the door.  
“Shouldn’t you put a shirt on?” Five asked following Klaus towards the bedroom  
“Nothing I have will fit me. It’s not like I packed before I came back.” Klaus said dismissively with the wave of his hand. The case was sitting between the tub and he toilet and Five snatched it before Klaus could touch it.   
“Calm down psycho. It’s all yours.” Klaus said with amusement. Five clutched the case to his chest and followed Klaus down towards the kitchen knowing for certain that at least one of their other siblings would be around and would freak out. He so wanted to watch.

Klaus was humming to himself as he flopped down into a seat at the family table and dipped his spoon into his freshly made cookie dough. He had used the white chocolate chips in it even though he knew that much sweetness probably would make the baby have a sugar rush. He didn’t really care if the baby woke him in two hour or so as he danced on Klaus’ bladder, he wanted the white chocolate and so he would have the white chocolate.   
“Isn’t that bad for the baby?” Five asked from where he was nursing a cup of coffee at the other end of the table. Klaus shrugged  
“Doc back in Nam said that I should eat whatever I’m craving and I’ve been craving cookie dough for months. It was impossible to make at the tent hospital because Gary always ate the chocolate before I could get to it.” Klaus said taking a big bite. Gary had always treated it like a game to see who got to the chocolate first and Klaus usually didn’t care. He’d never been a big chocolate eater before he’d done his time traveling. The taste exploded across his tongue and he let out a happy little sound. Five rolled his eyes but Klaus ignored him in favor of taking another bite. He could feel the bliss of finally settling the craving wash over him. Like an itch that was finally settled. Speaking of itches, his whole back felt like there were ants crawling over it and his joints ached in a way that wasn’t due to the long hours he’d worked in Nam. He was about to ask Five if these symptoms were common when a voice behind him cut him off  
“Where have you been Klaus?” Luther’s voice snapped Klaus out of his cookie dough high and he sighed.  
“Not here.” He quipped back. He took another bite of his dough but with the high gone it didn’t taste nearly as good. Klaus sighed mournfully and dropped the spoon into the bowl before shoving himself to his feet and moving to put the bowl into the fridge. Mom would no doubt find it and make cookies out of it.  
“Holy shit, Klaus?” Allison swore and Klaus rolled his eyes. He knew this was coming, knew they would freak out. His exhaustion was starting to sink back into him so he couldn’t find it in himself to care that they were freaking out.  
“It’s like you’ve never seen a pregnant omega.” Klaus muttered. Five snorted into his cup  
“It’s more like you weren’t pregnant the last time they saw you. Which was what, yesterday, the day before?” Five said and Klaus rolled his eyes and shrugged. For him it’d been close to ten months since he’d seen his family. He was starting to wonder if it had been long enough.   
“So, I did a bit of time travel. Fell in love, got knocked up, came home.” Klaus said offhandedly shuffling past his two least favorite alpha siblings. Diego, his favorite alpha sibling, was standing in the foyer watching him with a raised eyebrow  
“Need me to beat someone up?” Diego asked and Klaus laughed. Good old Diego looking out for his virtue.   
“Nah, we’re good. Dave’s sleeping upstairs and I doubt you could take him in a fight without your knives. He’s a beast in both the battlefield and bed.” Klaus said patting Diego on the shoulder as he shuffled towards the stairs. Diego nodded, a blush coloring his cheeks lightly at Klaus’ flippant words  
“Sounds like you found a good alpha. I’ll have to give him a rundown on what will happen if he breaks your heart.” Diego said before heading to the door. A realization flashed across Klaus’ mind and he felt the need to comfort his alpha brother who was probably still reeling from the loss  
“Diego!” Klaus called and the Latino man turned to him  
“I’m sorry about Patch.” He said. Diego got an anguished look on his face for a brief second before sliding back into his neutral expression.   
“Thanks.” He said, his voice ragged around the edges. Klaus nodded and headed back to his room. When he reached it, Dave was just starting to wake. Klaus entered and shut the door behind himself, locking it so that the others would get the hint that he wanted to be left alone.   
“Stitch?” Dave groaned as Klaus slid back into bed  
“Right here. Go back to sleep.” Klaus murmured pressing a kiss to Dave’s lips. Dave grinned and pressed a second kiss to Klaus’ nose before wrapping his arms around Klaus. Klaus watched him drift off to sleep before following.

Dave woke when the door to their room opened. The sun was shining through the windows now where before they had been on the other side of the house. He picked his head up enough to see a dark-skinned man dropping three bags onto the cluttered desk. The man noticed him being awake and gave him a lopsided and weak smile  
“Some clothes for Klaus. Doubt he’d want to go to the store without a shirt.” The guy said and Dave nodded  
“Thanks.” He said sitting up. Klaus made a soft noise before burying his nose into the pillow that Dave had been using. The dark-skinned man smiled and shook his head  
“I’m Diego.” The man said and Dave nodded  
“Dave.” He said. Dave knew he probably should get out of bed but the thought of putting his grimy clothes on made him cringe. The man passed him another bag  
“Some new clothes. I checked the clothes in the bathroom for the sizes. There’s fresh underwear and socks in there too.” Diego said and Dave grinned  
“You know the way to a soldier’s heart.” He muttered. Diego let out bark of laugh  
“I’ll give you privacy to get dressed. Meet me in the room two down on the left.” Diego said before leaving. Dave dressed quickly, gave Klaus a soft kiss on his temple and headed to the room Diego had given. Inside he found Diego and a girl sorting through boxes. A kid was supervising with a disapproving look on his face  
“Glad you could make it. We figured we only had so long to get a nursery put together.” Diego said and Dave choked on his own spit  
“You’re giving us a nursery?” He said. That had to be expensive, even for people as well off as these. Diego shrugged  
“Allison wouldn’t let any of us help when she had Claire. Wouldn’t even let us see her unless it was in a photo in a magazine. I figured Klaus wouldn’t deny us helping with his baby.” Diego said. The girl smiled  
“I’m Vanya and this is Five.” She said. Dave smiled back.   
“We’re trying to get this together before Klaus notices. Diego wants it to be a surprise.” The boy, Five, said. Dave grinned  
“How can I help?” He asked and Diego handed him a screwdriver  
“Start putting the changing table together. Since Pogo said we couldn’t paint, we’ve elected to start putting the furniture together.” Diego said. They spent the afternoon putting furniture together with Dave periodically checking on Klaus who seemed to be making up for all the lost sleep he had missed in the war. Once the furniture was put together Vanya pulled out something, she called a laptop. She showed Dave how to use something called Amazon to order things for the baby. Dave didn’t quite understand it but he found several things that he liked. Vanya helped him place the order, Diego tossing her a little plastic card with numbers etched into it.   
“This is crazy.” Dave murmured and Vanya patted him on the shoulder  
“We’ll help you through it.” She said and he nodded. If Klaus had siblings like this, he wondered how Klaus had gotten so into drugs. Dave slipped back into Klaus’ bedroom and sat on the bed beside him, stroking through his curls. Klaus was an angel, his angel, and he would do anything to protect him and the baby that he carried.


	2. Today we escape, we escape

Klaus woke slowly and wondered if he’d somehow slept through the alarms. He felt better than he’d had in a long time and struggled to sit up.  
“Hey Stitch, how you feeling?” Dave asked and Klaus turned to him  
“What happened?” He murmured, still not completely awake. Dave sat beside him and rubbed his back.  
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Dave asked and Klaus frowned. His body sagged into his mate as the last day’s events slid into place  
“There was an attack on the hospital. I had you grab the case and we time traveled back to where I’m from. We’re safe. Home.” He murmured and Dave pressed light kisses to his neck.   
“That’s right. You saved us.” Dave said and Klaus sighed.  
“And now I have to pee.” He muttered struggling and failing to rock off the bed. Dave laughed and helped him to his feet. Klaus shuffled into the bathroom across the hall and relieved himself before washing his hands and shuffling back into his bedroom. There were bags from a maternity store on the desk and Klaus dug through them to find them full of flowy shirts and comfortable pants.   
“Who do I have to thank for this?” Klaus asked pulling a deep fuchsia shirt on and trading his loose pants for a pair of maternity jeans.   
“Diego brought them in yesterday afternoon. He’s pretty chill for being your older alpha brother.” Dave said and Klaus snorted  
“He’s always been my favorite alpha sibling. Allison and Luther are always overbearing and demanding. Like they think God put them in charge because they presented as alphas.” Klaus said and Dave let out a low growl  
“They’d better show restraint, you’re my omega now, they should respect that.” Dave said and Klaus felt a shiver of arousal slid down his spine. He grinned and spun to face Dave who was watching him with possessive eyes  
“Damn right I’m yours.” Klaus said and the alpha let out a pleased rumble.   
“Come on, I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.” Klaus said. He felt Dave follow him down the stairs to the kitchen where Mom was cooking  
“Good morning sweetie. I see you’ve been rather busy.” Mom said with a smile. Klaus nodded and slid into his usual seat. Five was sitting in his seat already but they were the only two of the siblings at the table at the moment. Dave slid into the seat beside Klaus and Klaus slid his hand into Dave’s  
“Where the fuck have you been?” Ben’s voice behind him made Klaus jump  
“That’s a question I should have for you.” Klaus muttered. He’d not seen Ben since he time traveled to Vietnam and he’d tried multiple times while he was there to get in touch with his brother. His theory was that since Ben hadn’t actually existed at that point in time it was impossible for him to appear as a ghost. Dave raised an eyebrow and Klaus waved him off  
“I had to haunt Diego. He’s boring, all he does is fight.” Ben bemoaned coming around to stand beside Klaus and then he froze  
“Uh, Klaus. When’d you…” Ben trailed off and gestured to Klaus’ stomach.  
“We’ll talk later Ben. Promise.” Klaus said and Ben nodded. Klaus turned his attention to Five who was watching him from behind his cup of coffee and Dave who was semi used to Klaus’ abilities to talk to ghosts.   
“Ben says hello.” Klaus said cheerfully as if it was a regular occurrence, which it was for him. Ben snorted and made a comment under his breath while Five simply nodded. The rest of the Hargreeves filed into the kitchen and slid into their seats as breakfast was finally served. Allison was glaring at Klaus and Luther seemed to be at a loss for words. Breakfast was a quiet affair, mostly because no one knew what to say. Once it over, Diego nudged Dave and they shared a look.  
“Hey, Stitch, me and your brother are going to be working on a surprise for you so I’m going to need you to entertain yourself for a bit. Think you can do that?” Dave asked and Klaus narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion before brightening back up  
“Yeah, I should probably go baby shopping anyways. Little sucker’s going to need clothes and bottles and shit.” Klaus said rubbing his swollen midsection.   
“You’ve got money?” Diego asked and Klaus grinned   
“Yeah, unfortunately for my addiction, dear old dad made it a stipulation that I couldn’t have any drugs in my system if I wanted to access my inheritance. I tried so many different ways to get around the drug test but never actually succeeded.” Klaus said. Diego’s eyes bugged  
“Wow. And here we all thought you’d spent your inheritance on your habits.” Diego said and Klaus shrugged.  
“Nope. Anyways. Thanks for the clothes.” Klaus said standing. Vanya stood as well  
“I researched some good obstetricians last night when Diego told me about the baby if you want to make an appointment later.” She said and Klaus nodded  
“We probably should. I used to use the ultrasound machine at the hospital to check on him from time to time which is why we know it’s a boy but I’ve never actually talked to a professional.” Klaus said. Vanya smiled and they left the kitchen.   
“I’ll go grab the lists and meet you in the foyer.” Vanya said and Klaus nodded  
“I’ll go subject myself to a blood test by Mom so that Pogo will give me the card for my inheritance account.” He said waddling towards the study where he knew Pogo would be. He was halfway there when the urge to pee hit him again  
“Damn it.” He swore and changed directions for the nearest bathroom.

Vanya, it turned out, was amazing for making lists. She had not only a list of obstetricians who were reputable but she also had made a list of things they would need. Klaus was almost certain that she had stayed up all night researching for the baby.   
“We’re going to need a crib and a bassinet at least.” Klaus argued thinking about the laundry basket he had set up in his tent in Nam. It hadn’t been much so he was determined to give their baby more this time. Vanya shook her head  
“Not yet. Right now, we should focus on the little things, we’ll have that stuff delivered later.” She said and Klaus huffed. He turned to go down the aisle with the blankets and toys and started to feel each object. They were all soft but he fell in love with a soft green army fatigued blanket and gently laid it into the carriage. Vanya held up a pooh bear for him to inspect and he smiled.   
“Put it in the carriage.” He said and she dropped it on top of the blanket. They had already gotten several bottles, diapers in several sizes, a male breast pump, and several bottles of maternity vitamins. Klaus felt up a soft silver blanket before moving on to another that was blue with silver and gold stars stitched into it. He put this one in the carriage and added a matching teddy bear.   
“Alright, let’s go get some clothes.” He said and they moved on to the clothes isle. Vanya and him spent a good while picking out outfits for the baby to wear as he grew. Klaus’ only stipulation was that they were comfortable for the baby since it was him who would more than likely have to fight with the baby to get it dressed and he wanted the baby to be comfortable rather than stylish. Once the shopping was done, they dropped the bags off at the Academy and Vanya took Klaus to a café that she enjoyed. They were sitting and enjoying a nice lunch when a man came up to Vanya  
“Hey, I thought we were meeting for lunch.” The man said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. Vanya blushed  
“Sorry Leonard. Some things came up. Klaus’ apartment caught fire and he lost all his stuff for the baby so I told him I would help him get new supplies.” Vanya said and it came as a shock to Klaus how easily she lied.   
“That sucks, need any help?” The man asked sliding into the seat beside Vanya. She smiled at him  
“No, I think we got the basics this morning and we’re going to try and salvage as much as we can. Thanks for offering.” She said and Klaus saw a dark look flash across the other beta’s face. His bladder chose this time to need to be emptied and Klaus wanted to curse the baby in his womb who always seemed to lay on that particular organ.  
“I’ll be right back. Bathroom calls again.” He said giving Vanya’s hand a squeeze. He hurried to the bathroom and relieved himself, washed up and hurried back in time to see Leonard and Vanya arguing. Leonard snapped his mouth shut as soon as he saw Klaus approaching  
“It was good to see you again Vanya, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cancel my lesson this week.” The man said and Vanya gave him a tight smile  
“I think it would be best if you found a new teacher altogether.” She said sharply. Leonard frowned and stalked off  
“Trouble?” Klaus asked and Vanya shook his head  
“I hope not.” She said. They finished lunch and headed back to the Academy, forgoing any further plans for the afternoon for the safety of home.   
“I’m going to go take a nap.” Klaus said and Vanya nodded  
“Alright. I’m going to see how Diego and Dave’s little surprise is going.” Vanya said. Klaus grinned at her  
“Traitor.” He teased and she laughed  
“Don’t worry, it should be done soon.” She said brightly. Klaus shuffled up to his room and flopped down on the bed, moaning in contentment as his feet were now elevated and no longer killing him. He was just falling asleep when there was a knock on the door.   
“Fuck.” Klaus muttered pulling himself into a sitting position against the headboard  
“Come in!” He called and Allison and Luther entered the room. They shut the door behind them which immediately made Klaus nervous  
“We need to talk about your baby Klaus.” Luther said and Klaus raised an eyebrow.  
“I don’t think you two have anything to say about my baby.” Klaus said and he watched Luther grit his teeth  
“I know you care deeply for it and you want what’s best for your child. That’s why I think I should be the one to raise it.” Allison said jumping into the perceived problem. Klaus blinked  
“Really? You think you should be raising my kid? Wasn’t it you who just got done with a nasty divorce for rumoring your husband to fall in love with you and your kid to be the perfect little child? Why the fuck would I give you my kid to screw up?” Klaus said his voice rising in anger. Allison flinched at the accusations  
“I never used my abilities on Claire.” She said crossing her arms. Klaus choked on a disbelieving laugh  
“I call bullshit. You used to use your rumors on the rest of us so forgive me if I don’t believe you.” Klaus said. The baby seemed to sense his anger and the rising tension as he began to do flips and kick.   
“Don’t make this about Allison. You’re a drug addict Klaus, do you really think you can raise a baby? Do you really think that your alpha will stick around when you go back to your addiction?” Luther said and Klaus pushed himself to his feet  
“Well I’m not sticking around to hear this bullshit.” He snapped pushing past the two alphas. He headed to the room that had been Ben’s which was two doors to the left of his room. Pushing the door open without thinking he froze. Diego and Dave were in the room which no longer held Ben’s furniture  
“Holy shit.” Ben murmured looking over Klaus’ shoulder. The room had been transformed into a nursery. The furniture was dark to contrast against the periwinkle walls that Klaus remembered Ben and him painting.   
“At least they didn’t paint the walls.” Ben said. The two alphas seemed to freeze when Klaus opened the door but Dave rushed over when he realized Klaus was distressed  
“What’s wrong?” He asked and Klaus shook his head  
“Nothing. Oh, I ruined my surprise. Sorry.” Klaus said softly. Dave guided him over to the rocking chair that sat by the window.   
“It’s alright. Now tell me what’s got you upset.” Dave said and Klaus looked down at his hands  
“Just some things Luther and Allison said. Nothing to worry about.” Klaus murmured. He looked around the room, Vanya must have brought the stuff they had bought in because the camouflage blanket was folded neatly in the crib with the pooh bear sitting on top of it. Dave gave Klaus a soft kiss,  
“Forget about them Stitch, they don’t mean anything to us.” He said and Klaus smiled. Klaus sat there watching the two alphas put up a set of shelves above the changing table. He was grateful for the two of them. They would keep the baby safe. Allison would never hurt his baby with these two alphas in their lives.


	3. We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

Diego watched his brother out of the corner of his eye as he and Dave sorted through the last of the furniture. All they had left to put together was a dresser for the clothes and a small cabinet for any items that they wanted to keep out of the baby’s grasp. Klaus had fallen asleep in the rocking chair, his arms wrapped protectively around his baby bump which made Diego think the other two alpha siblings had said something about the baby.  
“Have you come up with a name?” Diego asked and Dave shook his head solemnly  
“Stitch didn’t want to name the kid until he came. Said the likelihood of him losing our baby were extremely high and he didn’t want to get his hopes up.” Dave said. Diego nodded. He didn’t understand the logic but he also hadn’t been there so he knew he couldn’t judge.   
“Where did he get the nickname Stitch?” Diego asked and Dave chuckled  
“He had the steadiest hands under pressure. Could stitch the worst wounds up without messing up even when the hospital was under fire. And the stitches he put in never seemed to be too tight or too loose, I don’t think anyone ever ripped one that he put in them.” Dave said with a fond smile. Diego studied the man his brother had claimed. Dave was objectively handsome, he was kind and seemed to care deeply, firm when he needed to be but never demeaning or cruel in his firmness, and he seemed to have plenty of patience for Klaus’ antics or he would never have stayed with him. Most of all it was obvious that he was madly and irrevocably in love with Klaus in a way that Diego had never seen.   
“Never thought my brother would be praised for steady hands.” Diego mused and Dave nodded  
“Yeah, he shook quite a bit on the drugs but once he got off them, he seemed to steady out.” Dave said pulling a bear out of the shopping bags that Vanya and Klaus had gotten that day. Diego followed suit, digging into his own shopping bag and pulling out a onesie with a hood. He smiled at the article of clothing, it had ridging and wings and was made to look like a little green dragon.   
“That’s cute.” Dave murmured and Diego nodded  
“Definitely something Klaus would pick out. He used to have a stuffed dragon when we were kids, I don’t remember what happened to it but he’d carry the thing around and cry when Dad took it away. Mom always made sure he had it for bedtime though.” Diego said. Dave glanced over at Klaus,  
“He didn’t talk much about himself in Nam. I think he wanted to be a bit of a mystery to the rest of the hospital staff. He talked a lot about his you guys but not much about himself.” Dave said and Diego frowned  
“He was probably the most removed from us besides Vanya. We, we were kinda cruel to both of them. Dad found Klaus’ abilities to be useless on missions but he still made him go on them even when all we let Klaus do was watch. Ben was always the closest to Klaus.” Diego admitted. Dave hummed  
“Which is why he went to drugs.” Dave said and Diego knew he was fishing for something.   
“Yeah, that and the ghosts.” Diego admitted. Dave nodded  
“Yeah, he had trouble with those in Nam. Barely slept at first because of them but I think he grew used to them the longer we were there.” Dave said. Diego nodded. They finished folding and putting the clothes away in serene quiet until Klaus woke screaming for someone name Gary to run. Dave was beside the panting omega, rumbling softly and stroking his arm and shoulder  
“Shh, it’s okay. We’re safe.” Dave murmured as Klaus sobbed. Diego felt like he was intruding in what was no doubt a very vulnerable moment for Klaus and slipped out of the room to go find Five. 

Klaus trembled in Dave’s arms as he came down from the adrenaline rush his dream had created. Dave was strong along his side, rubbing soothing circles on his arms and stroking along his back as Klaus forced himself to breath.   
“Better?” Dave asked when he finally pulled away. Klaus nodded and rubbed along his midsection.   
“Yeah. Hate those dreams.” Klaus murmured. The baby was pressing on his bladder again and Klaus struggled to his feet  
“Bathroom?” Dave asked amused and Klaus smacked him lightly  
“You try having a baby use your bladder as a footstool.” Klaus groused but there was no heat to his words. He shuffled to the bathroom. Dave was waiting for him outside it when he was done   
“Come on, it’s dinner time apparently.” Dave said and Klaus nodded  
“Thank God. I’m starving.” Klaus said. Dave wrapped his arm around Klaus’ waist and they made their way to the dining room where dinner was already waiting. Allison glared at them but Klaus ignored it  
“Please try and be on time Master Klaus, I understand that you move slower than before.” Pogo said and Klaus nodded  
“Sorry Pogo.” He murmured slipping into his seat. Dave slid into the one beside him and dinner began. It was pork chops and macaroni and cheese with green beans as the vegetable. Klaus spooned himself a good helping of the macaroni and the green beans but passed up on the pork chops. Dave took a bit of everything  
“Everything okay Klaus? You didn’t take any pork chops.” Allison said in a sweet voice. Klaus nodded  
“I don’t eat meat.” He said simply trying to suppress the smell that he always associated with meat. The smell of burnt flesh and blood. Dave rubbed along his arm, pulling him out of the memory and Klaus blinked. Everyone was watching him so he cleared his throat, picked up his fork and started to eat. Dave followed suit followed by Diego and Vanya. Five cocked his head and seemed thoughtful for a moment before doing the same leaving Allison and Luther to stare.   
“You should at least try. It can’t be good for the baby.” Allison pushed and Klaus shook his head  
“It’s fine. When I go to see the obstetrician, I will discuss it with them but since there are plenty of vegan and vegetarian omegas who have children, I doubt it will be anything to worry about.” Klaus said. Allison shut her mouth and turned to her food but Luther glared at him  
“Apologize Klaus. Allison was just worried about you.” He demanded and Klaus could sense Dave’s hackles rise. He placed a hand on Dave’s  
“It is not her place to worry about me. I have an alpha who understands my choices and the reasons behind them.” Klaus said icily. Luther scoffed  
“Some alpha he is. Letting a pregnant omega be in a warzone.” Luther said and Dave rose to his feet.  
“Klaus is an adult and we talked about whether or not to send him back to the states. He chose to stay and I respected his decision. I make no decisions for him because despite him being an omega he has a good head on his shoulders. It was not my place to send him back if he wanted to stay.” Dave said, his tone dark and dangerous. Klaus wasn’t sure if a fight was going to break out between the two alphas but the tension in the air was making the baby in his belly antsy.   
“Let’s all settle down and eat.” Pogo said and Klaus pressured Dave back into his seat. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence and Klaus made sure to keep a hand on Dave’s leg in a show of love and support. Once the food was taken away Pogo cleared his throat  
“Now, your father’s will is very specific in who gets what. I have read through it several times and have already started organizing what each of you will get.” Pogo said. Luther seemed to straighten, obviously thinking he was getting the best of their father’s things. Pogo waved Mom forwards and she brought him a stack of paper  
“Vanya, your father has left to you his collection of books. He wishes to tell you that the novel you wrote was well read even if he did not agree with everything you wrote. He also is leaving you one seventh of his fortune which amounts to close to three million dollars.” Pogo said. Vanya flushed at the mention of her book and nodded. Pogo gave her a soft smile  
“Five, he leaves you his research on time travel. He had hopes that one day he would be able to use it to find you and help you get home. He also leaves you one seventh of his fortune.” Pogo said. Five perked up at the mention of the time travel research and Pogo nodded to him  
“Allison, your father knew you desired the finer things in life so he leaves you his collection of Ming Dynasty vases as well as the Van Goh. You also get one seventh of his fortune.” Pogo said. Allison beamed, obviously believing that she had made out quite well. Klaus didn’t want to pop her bubble but he knew that most of the vases weren’t worth as much as she thought. He knew because he had pawned most of them off only for their father to buy them back at a later date.   
“Diego, your father knew that your drive to protect those weaker than you were your greatest quality. He states that it is not the leader of a team that is the most important but the member who carries the team’s conscience. He leaves to you the entire weapon collection as well as a case of which he does not state the purpose but states is very powerful. Like the rest, you also get one seventh of his fortune.” Pogo said and Mom stepped into the room with a case that made Klaus’ heart freeze  
“Is that…” He said trailing off when Five teleported over to the case  
“It’s like the cases that the Company uses but…different. Like it’s a later version of the case.” Five mused. Mom handed the case to Diego who took it with shaking hands.   
“Luther, your father knows that while you were the leader you never truly learned how to lead. He leaves to you an apartment in the Bronx and one seventh of his fortune.” Pogo said. Luther’s face scrunched up  
“Who gets the Academy?” He demanded. Pogo raised an eyebrow and sniffed  
“Klaus wasn’t left anything. You skipped Klaus.” Dave said catching everyone’s attention. Pogo nodded  
“Master Klaus, your father has always known you would be the greatest of his children. To you he leaves the academy and everything that was not listed for one of your siblings. He also leaves one seventh of his fortune for your personal use and another seventh for you to donate to a charity of your choice in Ben’s honor.” Pogo said. Klaus felt his jaw drop. He had been left the Academy? Luther surged to his feet in an uproar  
“You’re lying. Father always knew Klaus was the weakest of us. It’s why he pushed him the hardest.” Luther snapped. Pogo frowned  
“Your father was a very secretive man. What he knew and what you think he knew were more often than not two very different things.” Pogo said. Luther snarled at the chimp and staked out of the room. Allison followed but not before sending a scathing look at Klaus. The rest of them sat there in stunned silence.   
“Well fuck.” Klaus said finally. 

It was late but Diego was having trouble sleeping so instead he was heading to the nursery to finish organizing the dresser and assess what else they would need. He was just about to round the last corner when he heard Allison say something that made his blood run cold  
“I can’t believe that stupid drug addict got the Academy. He will probably trash the place before the month is over. And the baby? I have half a mind to call social services. It’s not like that alpha has any documentation to be able to keep the child.” Allison said.  
“Don’t do anything rash Allison. We have to be smart about this.” Luther said and Diego ducked into the shadows as they moved towards him. He held his breath as they passed his hiding spot before slipping into the nursery. He was shocked to find Klaus sitting in the rocking chair.   
“Did you hear that?” He asked the omega who nodded.  
“They’re going to try and take him away. What they said was right, Dave doesn’t have anything to be able to show that he’s a US citizen because he’s from the past. I’m a recovering addict who was in and out of rehab so many times they pretty much had a bed saved for me. I’m not mother material.” Klaus said, his voice broken but he seemed beyond tears. Diego kneeled down beside him  
“You are. You’d be a wonderful mother and we’re going to help. I think I know a guy who can get Dave a new identity but it’s going to take a couple of days.” Diego said. Klaus nodded.   
“What are you going to do with the case that Father left to you?” Klaus asked and Diego sat down on the floor, making a mental note to buy a carpet for it,  
“I’ve got a plan but it’s going to be a surprise. Five’s coming with me for it because he’s got more experience with that sort of thing.” Diego said and Klaus nodded.   
“Can you help me up? I have to pee again.” Klaus said and Diego climbed to his feet so that he could help his brother out of the rocking chair. He watched his brother shuffle out of the room and hoped that Five really knew what he was doing when it came to time travel. Otherwise things could get messier than they already were.


	4. I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

Klaus was sitting in the nursery with his laptop on his lap looking through Amazon’s wide range of baby supplies. He had found a nice rug for the nursery with constellations all over it in shiny silver stars and symbols, a mobile that in the theme of the black sheep nursery rhyme. Ben was watching over his shoulder, making comments about the different bibs that he was looking at  
“Klaus?” Ben gasped and Klaus turned to see Ben starting to fade. Panic welled up in Klaus’ gut as he scrambled around to try and comfort his brother who was fading from sight at an increasing pace  
“Where are you going Ben! Ben!” Klaus cried and Ben reached for him mouth saying something but no sound coming out. Klaus let out a distressed cry as Ben faded completely and Dave charged into the room  
“Klaus, Klaus baby, what’s wrong?” Dave asked pulling a shaking and sobbing Klaus into his arms.   
“He’s gone. Fuck, he’s gone and I…” Klaus sobbed clinging to his mate. He could feel the baby doing tumbling summersaults in him and knew that the baby was just reacting to the overwhelming emotions that were wracking him Dave carefully lowered them to the ground, cradling Klaus in his arms as the omega sobbed.   
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. You need to calm down Klaus.” Dave murmured. Klaus let out a choked gasp, his body curling in on himself.   
“I can’t. I can’t, it’s too much. Ben was supposed to be here with me, with us!” Klaus cried, his body ached with the grief of losing his best friend. Ben had been an omega too, he’d been the one that had always wanted kids where Klaus had always been leery about the idea. Dave had changed that but Klaus had wanted Ben right beside him for the baby’s life so that he could still feel like he was a part of the family. Painful spasms forced Klaus to double over in Dave’s lap and his eyes clenched shut as he prayed to God that this wasn’t happening. Klaus felt something wet seep between them and he felt Dave stiffen in horror  
“No, no, no, no. Please, oh god please.” Dave murmured, looking down at the liquid that was starting to cover them. This couldn’t be happening, it was too soon, way too soon. Klaus had always been afraid that he wouldn’t be able to carry the baby to term in Nam but this was New York and the future. They should have been safe. It wasn’t a warzone!   
“Dave.” Klaus said, his voice high with fear, “Dave, my water just broke.” 

When Diego landed, he was first aware of someone screaming bloody murder and the heavy weight of his brother on top of him  
“What the fuck is going on?” Five asked from behind him and Diego groaned  
“Not a clue. Go figure out will ya?” He said and felt the air displacement that accompanied Five teleporting. Diego looked down at Ben who was lying peacefully on his lap. He had aged, it seemed, no longer looking like he did when he died at the age of eighteen. Five appeared in front of them, his eyes wide  
“Klaus went into labor. They weren’t able to stop it. He’s having the baby right now.” Five said and Diego scrambled to his feet, barely stopping Ben’s head from hitting the floor hard.  
“Shit. Shit, fucking shit. Alright. Teleport to a hospital and steal an incubator, the baby’s going to need it.” Diego said. Five lifted an eyebrow  
“You want me to steal an incubator from a hospital.” He said in a deadpan tone. Diego huffed  
“It’s not like we can order one off amazon or buy one at a store. Get one that doesn’t have a baby in it preferably.” Diego said and Five huffed again before disappearing. Diego lifted Ben and set him on the couch before taking off for the infirmary at a breakneck pace. He could hear Klaus screaming and winced at the sound.   
“Push once more, dear.” He heard Mom say and Klaus screamed again. A new voice joined the wailing.   
“Thank you dear, plug it in please.” Mom’s voice said. Diego made it to the doorway to see Klaus laying on the bed and Mom gently placing a small babe into an incubator. Dave was murmuring to Klaus who started giggling.   
“Congratulations boys, you have a son.” Mom said as she connected a small nasal cannula to a tank before gently slipping it onto the baby’s face. The baby was still crying, wailing in a small voice  
“He’s got a set of lungs.” Five said and Dave chuckled. Klaus had fallen silent  
“I suppose we should give him a name.” Klaus said softly. Mom smiled at him  
“That’s a lovely idea Klaus.” She said and Klaus carefully sat up.   
“Can I see him?” He asked and Five carefully rolled the incubator closer to where Klaus lay  
“He’s perfect.” Klaus murmured, reaching into the incubator to let the baby grasp his pinky.   
“What happened?” Diego asked and Klaus let out a soft sob  
“Ben’s gone.” He said as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. Diego wanted to kick himself  
“No, he’s not.” Five said and all eyes turned to him  
“We, fuck, we went back to the fight where he died. None of us were with him when he supposedly tore himself apart, remember, Luther made us all leave him so me and Five went back to that moment and gave him a very high dose of sedative. He’s currently sleeping on the couch in the library.” Diego said blushing. Klaus blinked  
“But I remember him being a ghost.” He said and Five clapped his hands  
“Well that’s interesting. Maybe it has something to do with the sophistication of Father’s case. Ben did seem to have aged as well. Something to study in the future.” Five said. Klaus blinked again before tumbling off the couch and lunging towards the door.   
“Slow down Stitch, he’s not going anywhere.” Dave said catching the omega.   
“I want to kill Diego so bad but he brought Ben back.” Klaus said. Dave pulled him back to the hospital bed  
“You can kill him later. Just relax.” Dave ordered. Diego sunk to the floor as Mom stepped past him  
“I’ll go bring Ben up and make sure he’s in good health.” Mom said brightly. True to her word, she returned a few minutes later with Ben slung over her shoulder. She laid him on the second bed in the infirmary and bustled about as she checked his vitals. Klaus watched with wide eyes as the heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm  
“Still want to kill me?” Diego said scooting over to where Klaus was sitting  
“Haven’t decided yet. On one hand you brought my best friend back to life on the other the act of him disappearing induced my labor.” Klaus said. Diego flushed in embarrassment  
“Sorry. I’ll take as many diaper duties as you need.” Diego said and Klaus sighed  
“You’re making it really hard to want you to hurt.” Klaus said. Diego chuckled  
“Yeah.” Diego said. He looked down at his now sleeping nephew  
“He’s amazing.” Diego said and Klaus sighed  
“Yeah, he is.” Klaus agreed. 

Dave watched Klaus closely. He seemed to be dealing with the bewildering turn of events well. Dave had thought for sure that they were going to lose the baby, with Klaus only seven months into the pregnancy if they had run into this in the sixties there wouldn’t have been a chance. Dave had held his mate’s hand as the android first tried to stop the labor and then prepare for the delivery. Now they had a son, a little living bit of the two of them. Klaus was still holding the baby’s hand through the hole in the incubator.   
“Is he going to be okay?” Dave asked the android who smiled at him and patted him on the arm  
“He’s going to have to stay in the incubator and need a feeding tube for a long time. Infections and organ failure are still a possibility but I have a good feeling about your son. He shouldn’t have even made it through the birth after all.” The android said.   
“What?” Dave asked and the android blinked  
“Your son was born breeched. Feet first instead of head which made the birth longer and more difficult. The chance of him surviving was very low.” She said. Dave glanced back over to where his mate was smiling at their sleeping son  
“He is a miracle isn’t he.” Dave murmured. The android dithered about for a few more moments before clapping her hands and catching everyone’s attention  
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will deliver everyone’s lunch here so no one has to leave Ben or the baby.” She said in a cheerful voice. Dave slid over to Klaus and sat down on the opposite side of Diego closer to the incubator.   
“Diego has taken it upon himself to do diaper changes and every hungry cry at night for us.” Klaus announced and Dave chuckled at the horrified look on Diego’s face  
“For how long?” Dave asked and Klaus shrugged  
“Until I forgive him.” He replied. 


	5. We have made mistakes I know

Klaus slept in the infirmary that night, not wanting to be far from his son. He was still trying to get over the fact that his son was here, alive and dreaming. It was close to three in the morning when Ben started to stir for the first time. Klaus watched from his position beside the incubator as Ben slowly woke.  
“Klaus?” Ben groaned. Klaus carefully pulled his finger from his son’s tight grip and padded over to the other omega.   
“I’m right here Ben.” He said and Ben’s eyes snapped open  
“Oh, thank god. What happened I was fading and you looked so scared and then there was nothing.” Ben said sitting up. Klaus put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and Ben flinched.  
“Keep calm. Five has a theory that they pulled a you from an alternative universe and he melded with the ghost of you from this universe. Basically, I didn’t understand the mumbo jumbo much.” Klaus said and Ben carefully reached up and cupped Klaus’ face with a shaking hand.   
“I’m real. I can touch you.” Ben said, eyes wide in wonder  
“Yeah, yeah. You’re alive.” Klaus said sliding onto the bed beside his brother so they were pressed together like they always had done when they were kids. Ben was shaking violently and Klaus pressed him closer.   
“Wait, where’s the baby?” Ben said reaching for Klaus’ midsection. Klaus grabbed his hand before he could make contact  
“The stress of you disappearing forced me into labor early, Mom couldn’t get it to stop either.” Klaus said and Ben let out a choked sob.   
“Oh God.” He murmured. Klaus grabbed his hand  
“He survived, he’s alive. He’s in the incubator over there. Sleeping like the baby he is.” Klaus assured and Ben choked back a sob of relief.   
“Oh God, we’re a messed-up family.” Ben said and Klaus let out a dark noise of agreement  
“Pogo thinks he might be born with some sort of abilities. It made me think about the other thirty-five kids who were born like us.” Klaus said and Ben gave him an odd look  
“By now most of them have no doubt died. I want to talk to Diego about going back in time and collecting the ones who did. Bringing them here to have a proper life.” Klaus said and Ben let out a hum meaning he was actually thinking about the merits of that  
“It would be a lot of work, you’d have a baby and a bunch of kids to take care of.” Ben said and Klaus shrugged  
“I don’t think I would be doing it alone. Diego would have to be on board of course because he would be the one collecting them but I also think he would do really well with helping them learn self-defense. The others would have the option of staying and helping if they wanted to. If it came down to it, I could always pay Five to create more androids like Mom to help and run the place with just me and Dave.” Klaus said. Ben grabbed his hand  
“I’ll help, I’ll always help.” He assured. Klaus smiled weakly  
“Want to meet your nephew?” He asked and Ben nodded. They slid out of the bed, Klaus helping Ben get steady on his feet before they moved to the bed that was beside the incubator. Ben carefully reached into the case and let the baby cling to his finger.  
“He’s so small.” Ben said in wonder. Klaus blinked back tears  
“Yeah. He’s a preemie. There’s going to be a lot of hurdles for him to get over before he’s able to get out of the incubator. There’s still a chance of him dying.” Klaus said. He’d overheard Dave and Mom talking earlier about the baby’s chances.   
“Have you given him a name yet?” Ben asked and Klaus shook his head  
“Not yet. Dave and I are trying to decide between Simon and Thomas.” Klaus said. Ben nodded and Klaus leaned against him. The baby started to stir and Ben pulled his hand away as he woke. Klaus reached in and stroked along the baby’s face, letting the soothing scent of ‘mother’ and ‘safety’ soothe the baby from crying. His eyes were a swirling grey as he looked up at Klaus with wide eyes  
“I like Simon.” Ben said and Klaus smiled  
“Yeah, I’ll tell Dave. He liked Simon too.” He said absentmindedly, his full focus was on the little person that was currently sucking on his finger. 

Dave knew that a new mother, especially a new omega mother, would be protective of their pup so he had planned on waiting until after the initial checkup to go to the infirmary. That plan was scrapped when Five appeared in the library where he had been reading and told him that he was needed in the baby’s check-up  
“How is he?” Dave asked, wrapping an arm around Klaus.   
“Mom says he’s…healing? She thinks he’s got an accelerated healing which means he’s going to be fine but she wants to run some tests.” Klaus said. The android was standing by the door, a soft smile on her face as she waited for their permission.   
“What kind of tests?” Dave asked. The android smiled  
“Nothing dangerous. I just need a little bit of blood to look at under a microscope. All of my children had a mutation in their blood, an extra type of cell that allowed them to use their abilities. If your son has this as well it would support my theory that he is indeed superhuman like his mother.” The android said. Dave turned to Klaus  
“It’s just a little blood, just a little prick and a drop.” Dave said. Klaus looked torn between wanting answers and not wanting their son to come to any harm  
“Okay.” Klaus said with a jerky nod. Dave pulled Klaus away from the incubator in case he had any adverse reactions despite agreeing to the test. The android seemed to know what she was doing, taking a sample of blood without waking the baby at all. She carried the tray over to a microscope and seemed to become absorbed in studying it. Dave held onto Klaus until she turned back to them  
“Based on the slide, which does indeed have the extra cell, and the fact that your son’s lungs have fully developed despite his age I would say your son possesses accelerated healing.” She said and Dave let go of Klaus who darted back to the incubator.   
“What does that mean?” He asked and the android smiled  
“It means that he should be able to leave the incubator in a few days. He is now able to regulate his temperature as well as breath without the nasal cannula. I want to keep him on the feeding tube for a little bit longer to try and keep his energy up. The more energy he has the easier it will be for him to heal himself.” She said.   
“He’s really young to have manifested his abilities.” Klaus said and the android nodded  
“I believe they manifested because they were needed for his survival.” She said. Klaus nodded and Dave had to admit that it made sense. The android left to do her other duties around the house and Dave slid onto the bed that had been pressed against the incubator  
“I think we should name him Simon.” Klaus said. The decision surprised Dave since they had been disagreeing on the name.   
“What changed your mind?” He asked and Klaus shrugged  
“Thomas Simon Hargreeves doesn’t sound right but Simon Thomas Hargreeves flows better.” He said. Dave knew this was probably not the reason that Klaus had changed his mind  
“I’ve got another name to put on the table.” Dave said and Klaus looked up at him  
“Caleb.” He said. He watched as the memory of the soldier that the name had originally belonged to flashed across Klaus’ face. Caleb had been young when he had enlisted and he had enlisted for many of the same reasons that Dave had. He had been gay, family had tossed him out, and he’d wanted to make a change. He’d been taken back to the states two months before they had time traveled because he had been caught in a landmine and lost his left arm.   
“I wonder if he’s still alive.” Klaus murmured. Dave made a mental note to look the kid up for Klaus  
“So, what do you think of the name Caleb?” He asked and Klaus nodded  
“I like it. Caleb. What about Henry for the middle name? After our Lt. Colonel.” Klaus asked and Dave nodded  
“Yeah, I like that. Caleb Henry Hargreeves.” Dave said. Klaus pressed into Dave’s side as Dave slid his hand into the incubator for the first time. His hand was so large compared to Caleb’s who immediately tried to wrap a small hand around Dave’s index finger. A commotion elsewhere in the house made Klaus shrink into Dave’s side and raised the hackles on Dave’s neck. He could hear the alpha sister shouting at someone.   
“You should kick them out.” Dave said and Klaus nodded  
“I’m seriously thinking about it. I don’t want them around the children.” Klaus said. Dave raised an eyebrow, wrapping his free arm around Klaus’ shoulders and pulling his closer  
“Already planning our next child?” He asked playfully and Klaus shook his head  
“I’m thinking about collecting the other children that are like me and my siblings. I have to talk to Diego and Five about it but I think we could protect them.” Klaus said and Dave frowned  
“Like run an orphanage?” He asked and Klaus shook his head  
“More like a school. We’d take them at a younger age, most of them died before they could present their secondary gender, we’d teach them how to protect themselves, normal school things, and how to control their abilities. We’d make them functioning members of society.” Klaus said. Dave could follow that line of thinking, protect them from the things that killed them and make it so that they could live normal lives, lives that none of the Hargreeves ever would be able to get.  
“Alright. I think it’s a good plan. It’ll definitely keep your hands from being idle.” Dave said and he felt Klaus smile into his shirt. They both knew when Klaus didn’t have anything to do, he made poor choices.   
“Thank you.” Klaus said. 

The first time Klaus was able to hold Caleb he cradled the baby to his chest and cried. Caleb was awake, watching him with light grey eyes.   
“Hey there buddy.” Klaus murmured in awe. Dave was behind him, watching the two of them. He knew made Klaus feel safe, their alpha would protect them if any danger approached. Klaus turned to the alpha, presenting the baby to his mate in a primal instinct  
“We did so well.” Dave murmured in approval, knowing that Klaus was sinking in instincts that he wasn’t taught about. Reginald Hargreeves had treated his children as if they were all alphas and punished those who weren’t for not being strong enough. He didn’t try and touch Caleb yet, knowing that Klaus would probably not like it so he was surprised when Klaus slid Caleb into his arms  
“You’re his Daddy. He needs to know your scent too.” Klaus said in explanation. Dave carefully cradled his son.   
“You may take him to his room if you’d like. I have acquired several preemie onesies for him in various colors. Please be sure to keep his head covered however as his skull is still soft.” Mom said and Dave nodded. Slowly they made their way to the nursery where they found Ben sitting on the rug sorting through a large stack of cardboard books. Ben stood immediately with a smile on his face  
“He’s finally gotten out of the infirmary, huh?” Ben asked as Dave settled into the rocking chair. Klaus helped him sit back down, the freshly alive man sometimes finding it hard to keep his balance, and the two of them started putting the collection of books on the shelves of the bookcase that sat by the door. Dave watched them with a smile on his face. Caleb seemed to have fallen asleep but started crying about an hour after they had made it into the room  
“Klaus, I think he’s hungry.” Dave said and Klaus unbuttoned his shirt so that he could breastfeed his son. Male omegas never got breasts like female omegas and betas but they still produced breastmilk. Klaus had been using his pump when Caleb had been in the incubator so that Mom could provide the proper nutrients through the tube. Watching Caleb suck on Klaus’s nipple was slightly arousing and Dave felt the need to leave  
“I’m going to go check on Five and Diego’s planning.” Dave said. Klaus nodded  
“Alright. Can you also check to make sure Luther and Allison have gotten their stuff out? I don’t want them to have any reason to come back once the children start to come.” Klaus asked. Dave nodded.   
Their son was only four days old already things had started to change. Klaus had had a spectacular fight with Allison over Caleb, the female alpha threatening to take their baby and Klaus stating that if anyone in the family was ever going to have custody of the baby it would have been Vanya before kicking the two overbearing alphas out. The custody had seemed to surprise everyone, Vanya included. Klaus had explained later to Dave that since Ben was technically dead until Diego’s contact could get him a new identity he couldn’t take a baby, Diego was still grieving for his beta girlfriend and while he would try his hardest to be a good father he would still not be the best fit but Vanya had always had the most normal life out of all of them and would protect the baby while still nurturing it. She would do the research and make sure she was doing everything she needed to do in order to give their baby the best life.   
Dave left the nursery and the two omegas and headed to the study where he knew Five and Diego would be pouring over the numerous documents their father had on each and every child that had been part of the forty-three strange births. The plan was to get the ones that would need them the most first so it was up to Five and Diego to decide who would be rescued when. He swung by the old rooms of Luther and Allison, pleased to see that all the personal items were gone leaving behind basic furniture. He ran into Vanya in the hall on his way to the study  
“Hey, is Caleb out of the infirmary?” She asked brightly and he nodded  
“Yeah, you just back from practice?” He asked and she nodded, shifting the violin from two hands to one.   
“I’ll go drop this off in my room and then go check on them.” She said. Dave continued to the study where Five was alone pouring over some file  
“Where’s Diego?” Dave asked and Five barely spared him a glance  
“Picking up our new identities.” Five said passing over a small stack of files  
“Who are these?” He asked taking them  
“These are the five children who didn’t make it to the age of two. Diego and I have decided that they are the ones we need to collect first. One died only hours after being born, two made it to six months, one barely made it past a year, and the last two were twins who died days short of their second birthday.” Five said. Dave felt his heart clench at the thought of these children not making it out of the most basic part of their lives.  
“Which suitcase are we using?” Dave asked and Five smirked  
“The one that you’ve used. The other one is to…unknown. I’m going through the notes that pertain to Father’s understanding of time travel but he had so much of it that it will take some time before I truly understand how to use the case he created. My earlier idea that it was a more sophisticated version than the one the Commission uses has been proven false, I believe it is based off of those cases but not made from one of them. He might have seen some of the Commission’s cases in use and possibly even found one that malfunctioned but I don’t believe that he truly understood what he was working with.” Five said. Most of the words went right over Dave’s head but he nodded.   
“When are you two leaving?” Dave asked. Five shrugged  
“In a couple days. I want to make sure the future has truly been changed before I jump into changing the past. We technically have passed the date that the world was supposed to end but I don’t want to make any rash decisions.” He said. Dave understood that train of logic. He sat in the chair in the corner and flipped the first file open  
“Anita and Elijah Willis.” He murmured as he settled down to read everything that Reginald Hargreeves had found on the twins.


	6. He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so

Klaus was moving around the kitchen half asleep. Caleb was tucked in his wrap across Klaus’ chest fast asleep while Klaus made a cup of coffee. It had been a long stressful night as they had waited for news on the first children to be rescued. Diego and Five had returned late the night before with the toddler twins in their arms. Ben had helped the two get them settled in a bedroom beside his and Klaus hadn’t missed the soft looks Diego had been giving the twin who refused to let go of his shirt. Klaus wondered if he had misjudged Diego’s abilities with children or perhaps the length Diego would go to be what a child needed of him  
“Are you ready to hear the results?” Mom asked from her place at the sink jolting Klaus out of his musings. He took a sip of his coffee and wondered briefly if he should wait to learn the test results later when Dave was around  
“Yeah. What’s the verdict?” Klaus asked settling down at the table.  
“Your womb was badly damaged in birthing Caleb and possibly from the time traveling. The likelihood for you to be able to carry another child successfully to term is less than ten percent.” Mom said clinically. Klaus let out a soft noise of distress; it was what he had expected but not what he had hoped. Five hadn’t known what time travel could do to a baby and they all thought everything had been okay since Caleb had been okay for the most part. However, the day before Klaus had noticed bleeding from his vagina and had gone to Mom, worried that maybe Caleb’s healing factor had been the only reason he had survived and what that would mean for other children.   
“I’m sorry honey.” Mom said. Klaus pushed his tears back, forcing himself not to show how upset he was. If he got upset then he would disturb Caleb who was sleeping so peacefully. If he broke down now, he ran the risk of someone coming across him and asking what was wrong. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone that he was unable to bear another child, Dave, who had told him about his dreams of having a daughter to spoil, most of all.   
“I’m fine Mom. Do you need help with breakfast?” He asked and she smiled  
“I think I have it covered dear, why don’t you go check on our other little ones.” She said. Klaus nodded and headed towards the stairs. Diego was shuffling out of the bathroom when he reached the residential wing  
“Hey.” Diego said with a yawn. Klaus smiled at him  
“Surprised that your awake.” Klaus said and Diego shrugged.   
“Anita had a nightmare and I helped Ben calm her down.” Diego said. Klaus nodded  
“Mom's cooking breakfast. It should be done in a half an hour.” He said. Diego stretched and headed down the hall toward the small gym that was located between Luther's old room and an empty utility closet that he planned on turning into a storage space for extra kids’ stuff. Klaus turned and headed to the room he and Dave shared. They were working on getting rid of the clutter in Klaus’ old room so that they could fit a bigger bed that would be more comfortable for the couple. At the moment they were staying in a spare room with Caleb’s bassinet at the foot of the bed. Dave was fast asleep on his stomach, snoring softly. Klaus smiled and pressed a kiss to Dave’s forehead. The alpha wrinkled his nose and let out a louder snore before seeming to wake  
“Breakfast in thirty. I know you probably want to get a shower in before that.” He murmured pressing a kiss to Dave’s lips. Dave smiled  
“Thanks Stitch.” He mumbled before his eyes fell to Caleb  
“Good morning little man.” He cooed at the baby who was just starting to wake as well. Caleb scrunched his nose and tucked his head further into Klaus’ chest  
“Someone doesn’t seem to want to wake.” Klaus said moving to the windows and pushing the thicker set of curtains out of the way so some light could enter the room  
“I know the feeling.” Dave said standing. Klaus exited the room and headed to check on Anita and Elijah who were being entertained by Ben who was putting on an impressive puppet show. Vanya was behind them sorting through the clothes they had gotten for the pair. When she saw him, she skirted around the kids and Ben and the two of them headed to take a look at the room next door. The next child on the list was going to be the unnamed child who had not made it long after her birth. Vanya had taken charge of this baby’s room design and the whole thing was soft shades of yellow and purples.   
“It’s beautiful.” Klaus said with a soft smile  
“I’ve already got a name for her. Fan Chen. She’s a Chinese baby, born in a small village in the northern part of the country. She was stoned to death. Diego plans on getting to the mom when she’s in labor and taking her then.” Vanya said softly. Klaus laid a protective hand on Caleb’s head at the thought of a baby being stoned. The twins hadn’t been intentionally killed, their deaths were the results of a girl who had not been ready to have children. Left in a car on a day that had been far to cold. Their file had already changed, stating that they had simply disappeared from their crib one night never to be seen again.  
“When is Five and Diego going to get her?” Klaus asked and Vanya shrugged  
“I donno. They are forging adoption papers first so that no one can question my claim to her.” She said and Klaus gave her a little push  
“Omg, you didn’t tell me you were adopting her!” He said, barely able to contain his glee. Vanya blushed  
“Yeah, it’s easier since she’s a baby, you know. I’m so nervous.” She said tucking a long strand of hair out of her face. Klaus understood the feeling, he was terrified that he was going to do something wrong with Caleb and Allison would somehow get her hands on his baby.   
“We’ll figure this shit out together.” He said and she nodded. She was embarrassed, not able to look at him  
“Diego is going to make a swear jar if you don’t watch your mouth.” She chided breaking the nervous mood  
“And probably steal my entire fortune in the process. Bastard.” Klaus teased and Vanya laughed. The bell rang for breakfast and Caleb started to wail.   
“We’re going to have to work on that.” Klaus murmured to himself as he gently bounced his son to ease the tears.   
“He’s a baby, he doesn’t like loud noises. It’s natural.” Vanya said sliding past him out the door. Klaus followed, still bouncing more than usual so that Caleb would calm down. He tucked the baby’s binky back into his mouth and Caleb let out one last muffled sob before settling back down. Dave met Klaus at the stairs as Ben and Diego raced past them, one twin each on their shoulders laughing.   
“Sure you want a houseful?” Dave teased but it caused Klaus to falter. He couldn’t give Dave any more children, sure they would have all the children the took in but Klaus would never be able to give Dave a biological daughter. Dave caught the look on his face and Klaus saw him immediately begin to worry  
“What’s wrong? Who said what?” Dave asked and Klaus pushed a smile on his face  
“Just wondering if the next one will have abilities.” Klaus lied and Dave smiled   
“I don’t care. It would still be ours.” He said. Klaus followed him to the dinning room where everyone else was already waiting.   
“Try to be on time boys.” Mom chided gently. Klaus nodded  
“Sorry Mom.” Klaus said sliding into a seat next to the head of the table. Dave slid into the seat at the head, as Klaus’ mate he was technically the head of the household. Ben sat at the other end with one twin on either side of him so that he could keep them under control, Diego was next to Elijah, Vanya across from him, Five beside her with a book in his hand, and Pogo was across from him and beside Diego sipping a cup of tea. Once everyone was sitting, they started dishing out food and chattering with their neighbors. Klaus smiled at his family, they were nothing like they used to be.

Klaus had put Caleb down for a nap and so he had two hours to himself. Dave had gone out under his new identity, David Colton, to volunteer at the senior center two blocks over. He was quite a hit with the older ladies who were taken by his charm. Klaus had joked that he was going to run off with someone his own age the first night and Dave had laughed for a full ten minutes before stating that technically he’d run off with someone older which made Klaus a cougar. Five and Diego had left that morning to get Fan Chen and Vanya had worked herself in such a state of nerves that Klaus hadn’t felt bad about slipping a sedative into her tea. He poked his head into her room to find her sleeping and smiled. A nap sounded really good at the moment, who knew having a baby would have been so much work? Not him. He was woefully unprepared but loving every minute. Poking his head into the twin’s room he found Ben sitting with Anita in his lap looking at a book and Elijah curled up in his bed fast asleep.  
“Hey.” Ben said and Klaus smiled  
“Hey, that a good book Anita?” He asked and she nodded.   
“Yeah!” She said loudly and Ben shushed her  
“We gotta stay quiet. Elijah’s sleeping.” Ben reminded her and she frowned but nodded. Klaus held the baby monitor he was carrying up  
“Mind listening for Caleb? I wanna run to the store for some food dye for the special thing we talked about.” Klaus said. They had talked about making the twins play dough from scratch because it was cheaper than buying the brand-named stuff from the store. Ben nodded  
“Yeah dude, go ahead and go. We’ll be fine.” Ben said waving him. Klaus put the baby monitor on the shelf by the door and headed out. He grabbed his wallet and key before leaving the house. It was odd to be outside the academy without Caleb, it was odd to be without Caleb period. He collected the ingredients that he would need to make the play dough. Flour, vegetable oil, cream of tartar, two packs of food coloring. He also grabbed a fresh roll of paper towels because there was no way he was going to be able to make this shit and keep it neat. As he waited in line to check out, he saw a semi familiar face though it took him several moments to realize where he knew it from. It was the man that he and Vanya had run into at the café a few weeks ago. He was standing in line two over with only a few things in front of him. The sight of him made Klaus nervous even though he wasn’t sure why the man made him nervous. He shook his head, dislodging the thoughts and paid for his groceries. On his way back to the house he got a call from Dave  
“Hey babe.” Klaus said   
“Hey Stitch. Me and Maggie have a disagreement, she thinks that white chocolate cookies should always have nuts in them.” Dave said and Klaus could hear the smile in his voice. It caused Klaus to smile as well  
“While I have indeed eaten my fair share of nut less white chocolate chip cookies I have to agree with Maggie. Something about the nuts makes the cookie whole.” Klaus teased. There was the sound of several women laughing  
“Traitor.” Dave quipped and Klaus laughed  
“Now if you were talking about the cookie dough, I would agree that the nuts are over the top. But that’s just when you’re eating the dough.” Klaus said and Dave said something unintelligible. Klaus was waiting at a light and glanced around. The man was following him, not too close but close enough to make Klaus nervous again.  
“Hey Dave, can you stay on the phone with me until I get home?” Klaus said.   
“Yeah, everything okay?” Dave asked suddenly sounding concerned. Klaus took a deep breath and forced his voice to be light  
“Yeah, I just don’t have Caleb with me and am a little lonely.” Klaus said giving a half truth. He was quite glad that he hadn’t brought Caleb with him, the idea of putting his son in a position where there might be danger made Klaus tense with nervous energy. He listened as Dave talked about the women he took care of and how it was a good thing he worked there because one of the older ladies fell quite often but refused to use a wheelchair. Klaus let out a soft sigh when he shut the large door to the Academy behind him  
“Alright, you can get back to work, I’m home.” Klaus said. There was a moment of silence before Dave spoke up again  
“What spooked you?” He asked and Klaus knew he should have known that Dave would catch the paranoia  
“Nothing love, I just got spooked. Nothing triggered me that I can put my finger on.” Klaus lied heading into the kitchen to put the groceries down.   
“Klaus.” Dave said and Klaus sighed  
“It was nothing Dave. Look, I have to make some play dough so I’m going to let you go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Klaus said. Another moment of silence  
“Alright. Talk to you later.” Dave said flatly and then he was gone. Klaus wanted to let out a scream at how stubborn his mate was. Instead, he dropped his phone on the kitchen table and pulled out several large bowls to work with. He filled the kettle with water and set it to boil. All the while his mind was replaying every time he had gone outside since coming back, wondering if that man had been there each time.   
Watching.


	7. And I'm still filled with wonder you could fool me easily so

Klaus lay in his bed waiting for Dave to come in. It was close to one in the morning and he found he was having trouble sleeping. He sighed and thought back on the events of the day. After getting home from the store he had made the play dough and ignored three calls from his mate, not even bothering to listen to the messages before deleting them. Once Dave had gotten home things had only gotten worse, Dave had been pissed, Klaus had given Caleb to Diego so that he wouldn’t be subjected to the fighting. Things had been said in the heat of the moment and Klaus had retreated to the nursery until he had decided that he needed sleep. Sleep had never come.   
Dave had never come.  
“You should have just left me in Nam!” Dave’s words echoed around his head. Maybe Dave was right, Klaus had torn him from a place that he knew and thrust him into a world that was just insane. His musing was interrupted by the beginnings of a cry from Caleb. Sitting up he rubbed his eyes.  
“Mommy’s coming baby.” Klaus said as the cry turned into a wail. Klaus scooped Caleb up and slowly rocked him as he unbuttoned his shirt for Caleb to eat. Once Caleb was quietly feeding Klaus slid back into bed  
“Mommy loves you so much.” He murmured stroking along a soft cheek. He burped the baby when he was done eating and sniffed his diaper.  
“Well someone needs a change.” He said. There weren’t any diapers in the bedroom so Klaus padded out into the hall and towards Caleb’s nursery. Caleb didn’t want his diaper changed, squirming and starting to kick up a fuss. Klaus did the best he could to keep him quiet as everyone was still sleeping. He gave up on giving his son his binky after Caleb spit it out for the fifth time and settled on changing the now crying baby as fast as he could.   
“Move.” Dave’s voice said from the doorway. Klaus did as he was told, stepping back from his son so Dave could step forward and finish the diaper change. Dave wouldn’t look at him and Klaus felt overwhelmed with fear and loss.   
“Dave-“ He started but Dave ignored him in favor of scooping Caleb up and leaving the room. Klaus stood in the nursery for several long moments before shuffling back to the bedroom, hoping that Dave would be in there only to find it empty. He slid back into the cold bed, wanting to cry but unable to find any energy for tears. He finally fell into a fitful sleep an hour before sunrise. The bell for breakfast woke him and he shuffled out of bed and into some clean clothes before heading down. The meal was eaten in silence, Caleb sucking on a bottle of what was no doubt formula. It made Klaus’ heart clench because he had told Dave that he hated the idea of their son drinking formula. Klaus was the first one to finish, barely eating half his waffles before pushing his chair back and leaving the table. He found Pogo in their father’s study reading through the files on the other supernatural kids.   
“It will all be okay Master Klaus.” Pogo said without looking up. Klaus snorted  
“Dave can be angry for days if it suits him. One time Buddy called me fat when I was starting to show and Dave was pissed at him for an entire week. Gave him the worst jobs.” Klaus said. He itched for a smoke, maybe not even a blunt but just a regular cigarette. Something to burn his lungs and remind him that he wasn’t completely broken. He slid out of the study and headed up to his room to grab some cash. Dave was sitting with Vanya in Fan Chen’s nursery talking quietly. Klaus watched them sadly for a moment before heading down the stairs and out the door. He popped into the nearest convenience store and bought a pack of camels and a cheap lighter. His hands shook as he lit up but the comforting burn of the nicotine was familiar and he let out the smoke in a long sigh.   
“Hey pretty mama!” Some street thugs cat called and Klaus flicked them off as he passed. One of them whistled  
“Mama’s got some fire!” He called and Klaus snorted and kept walking. He wandered around for most the morning smoking cigarette after cigarette. He didn’t want to go home with the box since Dave hated smoking but he also paid for the box with his own money and refused to waste it by tossing a pack of perfectly good smokes into the trash. Eventually, he found himself at a familiar bar that he had frequented before he had time traveled.   
“Klaus!” One of the working girls cheered, clearly high on something. Klaus grinned at her and gave her a hug  
“Hey hun. How’s life?” He asked and she giggled  
“I’ve got some X if you wanna share.” She said holding up a small baggy of pills. Klaus shook his head,  
“Nah sweetie, I’ve gone clean. Smokes are the only drug I’m going to put in this thing for now on.” He said and she pouted.  
“Aww, that’s no fun. What happened?” She asked and he shrugged  
“Bagged me an alpha. Wanna keep him as long as I can.” He said even though he was wondering how much longer he would be able to hold onto Dave. He said goodbye and headed back towards the Academy, his last smoke almost gone. Flicking it to the ground he ground it out before climbing the stairs to the Academy and sliding inside.   
“Where have you been?” Five asked when Klaus entered the library  
“Out.” He said shortly. Five teleported in front of him and wrinkled his nose  
“You smell like smoke and cheap perfume.” He said loudly. Klaus rolled his eyes  
“Ran into an old friend. Working girl. We chatted for a bit.” He said stepping away from Five. Dave stepped into the room and Klaus tensed  
“We had a meeting with the city council this morning. You were supposed to be there but instead you spend your time talking to a prostitute.” Dave said evenly. Klaus thought back to the calendar and yeah, he’d missed a meeting. Shit  
“Sorry. I’ll call and reschedule.” He said. Dave crossed his arms  
“Don’t bother. I talked to them and got the plans approved.” Dave said and Klaus felt like it was a punch to the gut. He looked down, blinking rapidly to fight back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Dave pushed past him and left the library leaving Klaus alone with Five. Five looked like he wanted to say something but instead just teleported away. Klaus leaned heavily on the bookcase behind him and took a shuttering deep breath. He wished that Ben was still a ghost, still always by his side and never able to leave him. He could really use a friend at the moment.

Diego knew Dave and Klaus were fighting. It was obvious in the tight jaw of the other alpha and the lost looks in his brother’s eyes. It had been three days since the start and the silence between the two was disrupting everyone’s lives. Meals were silent and Klaus didn’t show up to half of them. Diego often found him in the more abandoned parts of the Academy working on making the place livable. He never had Caleb anymore and when Diego questioned it he had shrugged and said that he was always upsetting the baby so Dave had decided to take care of him. Diego had wanted to slap some sense into the other alpha, couldn’t he see he was hurting his omega? Klaus had stopped him, ever the dutiful omega, making Diego promise to leave it alone. It was close to midnight when Diego found Klaus in the study looking over legal documents  
“Hey.” He said and Klaus looked up. He had dark circles under his eyes but he still gave Diego a small smile  
“Hey, sorry. There’s a lot of paperwork that comes with owning this place. Dad let it all pile up for the most part.” Klaus said turning back to his paperwork.   
“You look like you could use some rest.” Diego said carefully, knowing that an exhausted Klaus was an unstable Klaus.   
“Yeah, I know I could but Dave’s been sleeping in a separate room and I can’t sleep without him.” Klaus said. Diego rounded the desk and gently pulled Klaus out of the chair. He led him up to the residential wing and into his own room  
“You can sleep with me for the night.” Diego said. Klaus sunk down into the bed and Diego tucked himself around his little brother as a protective shield. He would have to have a good long talk about how to treat an omega with Dave in the morning but for now he had to comfort his touch starved brother. Klaus pressed into each spot their bodies touched, soaking up the soothing and comforting pheromones that Diego was emitting. Diego made sure his brother was asleep before drifting off himself.

Dave rocked his son as he slept. It was almost time for breakfast and he had barely slept. Caleb had gotten hungry in the middle of the night but had refused any formula. Dave had gone looking for Klaus but hadn’t been able to find him which was frustrating. When the bell finally rang, he slowly made his way down to the table. Diego and Klaus were already there, Klaus looking better than he had in days. Whatever conversation they had been having fell silent at the sight of Dave, Klaus’ smile fading and his eyes returning to his hands. It was like a punch to Dave’s gut. He slid Caleb into the bassinet in beside Klaus’ chair and sat down in his own seat. Once everyone was seated the meal started  
“Klaus, I have started on the prototype for the android we spoke of.” Five said halfway through the meal breaking the silence. Klaus looked up from his plate  
“The one that was going to help with the education, right?” Klaus said, his voice was soft, scratchy. Five nodded and then proceeded to go into an explanation on what he was doing. Dave could tell that most of it was going over Klaus head. Klaus listened for several moments before interrupting  
“Five, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have work to do though so I’ll see you later, kay?” He said pushing his plate away and moving to stand  
“I have to go to the community center today.” Dave said quickly. Klaus paused and nodded before scooping Caleb up and leaving the room.   
“We should talk.” Diego said coolly. Dave knew what he wanted to say. He’d expected the other alpha to have said something sooner  
“Then talk.” He said calmly  
“If you keep going down this road of treating Klaus like he’s a toy that you aren’t sure you want he’s going to disappear.” Diego said. Dave blinked.   
“He knows my rules about his drugs, I’ve ignored his smoking so far but if he goes for anything stronger then he’ll get the appropriate punishment.” Dave said. He stood and left the room nearly running into Klaus who was standing right outside the room holding Caleb. Dave opened his mouth to say something but Klaus was already moving away, heading up the stairs towards the residential wing. Dave grit his teeth and shook his head. Klaus just needed some time. He would be fine, he told himself pushing down that small voice that tried to tell him something was wrong with his omega.

Klaus tucked as much as he could into the duffel bag. Most of it was Caleb’s things, the cloth diapers that Vanya had accidentally bought, several toys, plenty of onesies that would be a little large on Caleb at the moment but that his son could grow into. He packed a few of his own clothes too before wrapping Caleb into the army fatigue baby blanket and tucking him into his wrap. Caleb looked up at him with eyes that were starting to become brown like his father’s. Klaus left Caleb’s nursery, careful to take the back route to get out of the Academy. He headed to the bank where he knew his inheritance was. The teller was kind and Klaus played on the whole ‘bad breakup’ when he asked for a whole new account. It took a while but he finally was able to leave the bank with an account that Pogo and the rest couldn’t track and a new debit card. He caught a taxi and headed into the city center where he knew he would be able to get a good hotel. He checked into a ritzy hotel and laid Caleb out on the sole bed.   
“We’re going to be alright.” He murmured as he surrounded his son with pillows to keep him from getting hurt. Caleb just blinked up at him and yawned. Klaus padded around the room trying to put off the inevitable. Finally, he pulled his phone out and dialed Diego’s number  
“Hey, where are you?” Diego said when he answered immediately. Klaus let out a soft sob  
“I left Dee. I needed some space so me and Caleb are taking a little step back and figuring out our priorities.” Klaus said. There was a quiet pause where Klaus wasn’t sure what Diego was doing  
“Are you okay?” He asked and Klaus exhaled  
“I’m not sure. I thought Dave was different. Maybe he would have been if I hadn’t stolen him from his life.” Klaus said. He let Caleb grab one of his fingers and suck on it  
“Don’t make this your fault. Dave seemed like a good guy but sometimes people are deceiving. He probably wasn’t ready for the commitment of a baby.” Diego growled. Klaus chuckled  
“He wanted kids though. More than I did.” Klaus said and he realized he was crying.   
“Wanting kids and actually having them is two different things.” Diego said. Klaus sighed  
“I just called so you wouldn’t worry. I have to go.” He said and Diego made a soft noise  
“Come home when you’re ready, alright?” He said gently and Klaus nodded even though Diego couldn’t see it. He hung up and shut the phone down. He didn’t want to be found yet. He needed time and space like he had said. He had a kid, a little baby who needed love and support. Klaus needed to figure out what was best for Caleb in the long run.  
Having two parents or one.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, thank you to Nacty who reminded me that I can still love The Umbrella Academy even if I haven't been active in the fandom for a long time


End file.
